Thread: Pretzels?

merryb wrote:

> Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> thinking;
> Salted
> Parm and/or rosemary
> Mustard
> Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> thanks!

The flavors you mention should all be fine. Here are a few others:

Poppy seeds
Kalonje (a.k.a. onion seeds, though they're not really the seeds of onions)
Sweet curry
Peanut butter

Bob

"merryb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> thinking;
> Salted
> Parm and/or rosemary
> Mustard
> Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> thanks!

Poppy seeds are good on pretzels.

On Mar 3, 7:08*pm, Bob Terwilliger <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz>
wrote:
> * merryb wrote:
> > Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> > make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> > be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> > some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> > else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> > sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> > person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> > few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> > thinking;
> > Salted
> > Parm and/or rosemary
> > Mustard
> > Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> > chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> > thanks!
>
> The flavors you mention should all be fine. Here are a few others:
>
> Poppy seeds
> Kalonje (a.k.a. onion seeds, though they're not really the seeds of onions)
> Sweet curry
> Peanut butter
>
> Bob

Love the peanut butter idea- how would you use it? I have heard from a
couple of people regarding the mustard flavored- they advise a dipping
sauce as opposed to incorporating it into the dough. Maybe the same
idea?

On Mar 3, 8:27*pm, "Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
> "merryb" <msg...@juno.com> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> > make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> > be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> > some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> > else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> > sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> > person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> > few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> > thinking;
> > Salted
> > Parm and/or rosemary
> > Mustard
> > Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> > chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> > thanks!
>
> Poppy seeds are good on pretzels.

Interesting idea- thanks! I wonder if a multi-seed would be good??

"merryb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> thinking;
> Salted
> Parm and/or rosemary
> Mustard
> Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> thanks!

Are these soft pretzels or hard pretzels?

On Mar 3, 8:50*pm, "news" <n...@news.org> wrote:
> "merryb" <msg...@juno.com> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> > make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> > be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> > some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> > else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> > sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> > person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> > few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> > thinking;
> > Salted
> > Parm and/or rosemary
> > Mustard
> > Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> > chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> > thanks!
>
> Are these soft pretzels or hard pretzels?

I guess it depends on how thick they end up being and how long I bake
them for. I am doing tests tomorrow so I can meet up with the woman
who is in charge on Monday and see what she likes. I personally would
like a bit of both textures- crispy ends with a few softer spots in
between- like a twist. She is the one who is paying, so whatever she
feels is best...

merryb wrote:

>>> Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
>>> make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
>>> be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
>>> some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
>>> else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
>>> sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
>>> person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
>>> few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
>>> thinking;
>>> Salted
>>> Parm and/or rosemary
>>> Mustard
>>> Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
>>> chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
>>> thanks!
>>
>> Peanut butter
>
> Love the peanut butter idea- how would you use it? I have heard from a
> couple of people regarding the mustard flavored- they advise a dipping
> sauce as opposed to incorporating it into the dough. Maybe the same
> idea?

I can think of three options:

1. Incorporate it into the dough: This will make it a bit like a savory
peanut-butter cookie, and ought to go well with beer. The thing to worry
about is getting the peanut-butter flavor without losing the pretzel
texture; it's probably a bit more complicated than simply adding peanut
butter to pretzel dough: If you add enough peanut butter to give a
strong flavor, then you've also significantly changed the cooking
characteristics of the dough, because of the fat and bulk of the peanut
butter.

2. A peanut-butter coating similar to the "yogurt" coating on pretzels:
This would be sweeter, and pairing with beer might not be for everybody
because of that, but it would be good with most sodas (especially grape
soda for that PB&J flavor combination).

3. A peanut-butter dipping sauce: While this would be tasty enough and
would provide the ability for some novel flavor combinations which might
not otherwise be available, I'd put it at the bottom of the list because
guests would likely drop and drip the sauce all over the place, and even
if they didn't, they'd have to go to the trouble of carrying the little
cup of sauce around and then finding a place to put it down.

Bob

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 17:56:35 -0800 (PST), merryb <[email protected]>
wrote:

>. I think I need a
>few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
>thinking;
>Salted
>Parm and/or rosemary
>Mustard

Garlic

Tara

On Mar 3, 5:56*pm, merryb <msg...@juno.com> wrote:
> Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> thinking;
> Salted
> Parm and/or rosemary
> Mustard
> Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> thanks!

Salt and caraway

The one baker here uses Styrian pumpkin seeds (from which comes
Kuerbiskernoel). Might be tough to find.

Black cumin (Nigella sativa)

On Mar 3, 7:08*pm, Bob Terwilliger <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz>
wrote:
> * merryb wrote:
> > Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> > make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> > be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> > some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> > else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> > sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> > person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> > few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> > thinking;
> > Salted
> > Parm and/or rosemary
> > Mustard
> > Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> > chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> > thanks!
>
> The flavors you mention should all be fine. Here are a few others:
>
> Poppy seeds
> Kalonje (a.k.a. onion seeds, though they're not really the seeds of onions)

Kalonje is Nigella sativa aka black cumin.

On Mar 4, 5:31*am, Tara <jarvi...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 17:56:35 -0800 (PST), merryb <msg...@juno.com>
> wrote:
>
> >. I think I need a
> >few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> >thinking;
> >Salted
> >Parm and/or rosemary
> >Mustard
>
> Garlic
>
> Tara

I would use dessicated garlic for this, so there are chunks.

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 20:38:52 -0800 (PST), merryb <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Mar 3, 8:27*pm, "Julie Bove" <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
> > "merryb" <msg...@juno.com> wrote in message
> >
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> > > Hey all- my Mom "suggested" to a co-worker that I would be willing to
> > > make pretzels for an open house party- thanks Mom! So, I am going to
> > > be baking pretzels for 100 people. We have a local brewery that makes
> > > some pretty good beer, so that will be served also- not sure what
> > > else. I assume there will be a lot of standing around, so I'm thinking
> > > sticks would be easiest, probably 8 inches long or so, and 3 per
> > > person- tomorrow will be my first test baking day. I think I need a
> > > few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> > > thinking;
> > > Salted
> > > Parm and/or rosemary
> > > Mustard
> > > Should a few salted ones be dipped in chocolate? I know beer and
> > > chocolate can pair nicely...If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it-
> > > thanks!
> >
> > Poppy seeds are good on pretzels.
>
> Interesting idea- thanks! I wonder if a multi-seed would be good??

If poppy is good, "Everything" is even better - don't forget the salt!

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 21:06:30 -0800 (PST), merryb <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Mar 3, 8:50*pm, "news" <n...@news.org> wrote:
> >
> > Are these soft pretzels or hard pretzels?
>
> I guess it depends on how thick they end up being and how long I bake
> them for. I am doing tests tomorrow so I can meet up with the woman
> who is in charge on Monday and see what she likes. I personally would
> like a bit of both textures- crispy ends with a few softer spots in
> between- like a twist. She is the one who is paying, so whatever she
> feels is best...

Does this mean you have a decent soft pretzel recipe to post for us?
I'm always looking.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Mar 4, 5:31*am, Tara <jarvi...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 17:56:35 -0800 (PST), merryb <msg...@juno.com>
> wrote:
>
> >. I think I need a
> >few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> >thinking;
> >Salted
> >Parm and/or rosemary
> >Mustard
>
> Garlic
>
> Tara

Forgot about that- good call! Thanks!

On Mar 4, 10:30*am, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 21:06:30 -0800 (PST), merryb <msg...@juno.com>
> wrote:
>
> > On Mar 3, 8:50*pm, "news" <n...@news.org> wrote:
>
> > > Are these soft pretzels or hard pretzels?
>
> > I guess it depends on how thick they end up being and how long I bake
> > them for. I am doing tests tomorrow so I can meet up with the woman
> > who is in charge on Monday and see what she likes. I personally would
> > like a bit of both textures- crispy ends with a few softer spots in
> > between- like a twist. She is the one who is paying, so whatever she
> > feels is best...
>
> Does this mean you have a decent soft pretzel recipe to post for us?
> I'm always looking.
>
> --
> Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

I googled a few, so until I try them, I can't make a recommendation.
Today is day one of experiments... I do see a number of recipes that
call for lye, but think I'll go with the baking soda treatment.

On Sun, 4 Mar 2012 09:49:47 -0800 (PST), spamtrap1888
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mar 4, 5:31*am, Tara <jarvi...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 17:56:35 -0800 (PST), merryb <msg...@juno.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >. I think I need a
> > >few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
> > >thinking;
> > >Salted
> > >Parm and/or rosemary
> > >Mustard
> >
> > Garlic
> >
> > Tara
>
> I would use dessicated garlic for this, so there are chunks.

Desiccated garlic?

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

sf wrote:

>> I would use dessicated garlic for this, so there are chunks.
>
>Desiccated garlic?

[sic]

merryb wrote:
>Tara wrote:
>> merryb wrote:
>>
>> >. I think I need a
>> >few flavors, and I hope you all can offer advice- here's what I'm
>> >thinking;
>> >Salted
>> >Parm and/or rosemary
>> >Mustard
>>
>> Garlic
>>
>> Tara
>
>Forgot about that- good call! Thanks!

Pretzels coated with dark chocolate.
http://foodconfidence.com/2012/02/21...erry-clusters/

On Sun, 4 Mar 2012 11:26:26 -0800 (PST), merryb <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I googled a few, so until I try them, I can't make a recommendation.
> Today is day one of experiments... I do see a number of recipes that
> call for lye, but think I'll go with the baking soda treatment.

I used to have a really good one that wasn't fussy and produced
surprisingly good results. Got it from one of the kids elementary
school teachers who had made soft pretzels with the class, so it had
to be easy. I lost it somehow. Maybe I'd transferred it to computer
and it went when the hard drive died. My computers tend to die rather
than be replaced due to age.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.